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Chapter 46: The Tantric Way to Freedom from Desires

The other said, “There is a son; he is a great poet. All over the land his voice is heard, his songs are sung, and those who know poetry say that sooner or later he is going to become a Nobel laureate.”

The other friend said, “Marvelous! And tell me about your second son, Benny. How is he?”

The friend said, “I am so happy about my second son. He is a leader, a great political leader. Thousands and thousands follow him, and I am sure that sooner or later he is going to be the prime minister of this land.”

Then the friend said, “My! So fortunate you are! And what about your third son Izzie?”

The father became very sad and said, “Izzie? He is still Izzie. He is a tailor. But I tell you that if it was not for Izzie we would all be starving.”

But the father was sad because Izzie is just a tailor. And the poet and the great politician, the great leader - they are dreams. Izzie is the reality - the tailor. “But if not for Izzie, we would all be starving,” he said.

You could not exist were it not for this moment. that is real. But you are never happy about it. You are happy in your dreams for the future about Nobel laureates, prime ministers. Right now, “Izzie is just a tailor.” Your reality is where you are grounded; your dreams are not your ground. They are false. Come to terms with your reality in the present moment. Encounter it, face it whatsoever it is, and don’t allow the mind to move into the future. The future is desire. If you can be here and now, you are a buddha. If you cannot be here and now, then everything is just dream stuff.

And you will have to come back because dreams cannot lead you anywhere. They can only lead you to hope and frustration, but nothing real happens through them. But remember my point that you cannot imitate. You will have to pass through suffering. Suffering is the path. It purifies you, it makes you alert, it makes you aware. The more you are aware, the less you are desire-filled. If you are perfectly aware, no-desire happens, and meditation means nothing else but perfect awareness.

The second question:

Osho,Please explain how it is possible that one can be spiritually transformed by being total in actions that are of anger, hatred and violence.